NFL Draft: Fantasy football impact of Tua Tagovailoa to the Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins made Tua Tagovailoa the fifth selection in Thursday's NFL Draft. What does landing in Miami mean for Tagovailoa's Fantasy outlook?
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With the fifth pick in the NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins selected quarterback Tua Tagovailoa out of Alabama. Find Tagovailoa's 2020 Fantasy outlook below:
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 218
Age: 22
Dynasty Ranking: 2.06 (QB2)
Redraft Ranking: QB34
16-game projection for the 2020 season as a member (projected 12 starts) of the Miami Dolphins:
Passing: 2,876 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions
Rushing: 39 carries for 199 yards and 1 touchdown
The only blemish on Tagovailoa's draft profile is his health, and the dislocated hip suffered in 2019 is a serious concern. As far as his play is concerned, though, Tagovailoa is among the very best quarterback prospects we have seen over the past 5-10 years.
Tua even has one trump card over the seemingly untouchable Joe Burrow -- we have literally never seen his level of play anywhere below exceptional. While it took Burrow until his final year to showcase his NFL-ready talent, Tagovailoa has been carving up opposing defenses since his freshman year -- when he replaced Jalen Hurts in the National Championship game and led Alabama to a come-from-behind victory in overtime.
Tagovailoa might not win the starting job outright, but Ryan Fitzpatrick's sometimes volatile play and Miami's unlikeliness to be pushing for a playoff spot both would make it realistic for him to play a lot in his rookie season. His ability to successfully push the ball downfield will complement the skillset of vertical weapons Devante Parker, Preston Williams, and Mike Gesicki, all of whom should have more catchable balls than they saw in 2019.
Fitzpatrick is notorious for boosting the Fantasy value of his weapons, due to his aggressive nature when attacking down the field. So, removing him for a rookie might actually hurt Parker, specifically, whose career was rejuvenated with Fitzmagic. But, if Tua is as good as advertised, he'll be a significant upgrade over Fitzpatrick from an accuracy standpoint. Even in an awesome 2019 season, Fitzpatrick ranked just 21st in the NFL in terms of PFF's accuracy rating. His pass-catchers saw a catchable target on just 70.9 percent of targets, and Preston Williams saw just a 59.3 percent catchable target rate in 2019.
For dynasty purposes, Tagovailoa's landing spot in Miami allows him to remain the clear-cut QB2 in rookie drafts. He has a realistic chance at starting double digit games and has the talent and weapons to thrive if healthy.